Chapter 6: Travelers

In a dense forest, a lone stag slowly trod through the autumn underbrush foraging for food. The forest, now quiet after the mass exodus of its avian residents, echoed as the deer scattered the colorful assortment of leaves coating the forest floor.

A rabbit ran past, causing the deer to jerk its head up in alarm. However, the forest was quiet. The rabbit long gone, the stag went back to its grazing after taking one last look around for predators.

Tens of meters away, a pair of boys, one nearing eighteen and the other eleven, gave a silent expression of relief.

Crouched in the shadows of the dense topiary, Patrick slowly knocked an arrow on his bow. Every movement he made was slow, in case he was to act too quickly and frighten the target. His face seemed calm, but to David it was clear he was only suppressing his nerves.

“Hold your breath as you shoot.” David advised quietly. “You’ve had plenty of practice. As long as you keep calm, you’re golden.”

“You’ve told me that 15 times.” Patrick whispered back. “Stop making noise.”

“Sorry.” David gave an awkward smile. He was just as nervous as Patrick despite his role as a spectator. As a result, he couldn’t stop offering repetitive advice.

Thankfully, it wasn’t affecting the boy’s concentration significantly. Patrick kept his eyes trained on the stag, ignoring David completely.

His gaze moved to the deer still munching on the underbrush. David took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. It was a fruitless effort. For David, Patrick’s first successful hunt was an irrationally important moment, making maintaining any form of tranquility impossible. He wouldn’t be able to release all the nervous energy until it was over.

In comparison, Patrick was doing much better. Compared to his previous attempts, he’d improved remarkably. Calm, focused eyes, steady breathing, smooth form, the improvements were tremendous. The training was paying off far quicker than David could have anticipated.

Finally, the deer changed its stance, revealing the sweet spot they’d waited for.

Twang

The arrow whistled forward. The deer sensed the impending threat, but its reaction was too slow. The arrow drove itself into the creature’s ribcage directly beneath the foreleg, puncturing the heart.

David jumped up in excitement. “Yes! You did it! I knew you had it in you!”

Patrick let out a sigh of relief and fell backward onto his back. “I did it. I finally got it right.”

“Never had any doubt in you!”

Patrick laughed. “I want to hear that when you aren’t covered in nervous sweat.”

“Anticipation of your success!”

“Sure. Wait, I think we’re forgetting something.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t you need to catch that thing?”

David blankly stared in the direction the deer had bolted toward and smacked himself in the head. “Ah, right.”

The blood in David’s body began surging, filling him with tremendous strength. He took up a starting position and exploded out of the bushes. Racing after the deer, he disappeared in the forest like a missile.

After nine years of living in the wilderness, David had become an expert in traversing difficult terrain. He weaved through the trees with ease and crushed anything weaker under his feet. It wasn’t even a minute before he relocated the fleeing deer.

Slowed by increasing exhaustion, the deer was quickly overtaken. He swiped his arm to the side and slightly tapped the sprinting beast. This small tap sent the creature tumbling to the ground, only stopping after its body slammed into a tree. It struggled to get back to its feet but David’s hand caught it mid attempt and pinned it helplessly against the ground.

“Good effort, buddy. Its just not your lucky day.” David consoled the deer. He turned his head and yelled out at the top of his lungs. “Patrick! Over here! I’ve got him!”

“Coming!” A faint voice yelled back. He clearly was still far from the location. David shifted to a more comfortable position as he waited.

A few minutes later, the eleven-year-old, covered in sticks and dirt, ran up to the tree. He collapsed the moment he arrived, gasping for air. “Why… are you… so freakin’… fast?” he managed to say through his heavy breathing.

“I’m bigger than you. Just keep at it and I’m sure you’ll be faster than me in no time.” David said with a smile.

“Jerk… don’t… make fun of me…”

“Sorry. Rough time?”

“Too many bushes and roots. It was a nightmare.” Patrick stood up after catching his breath. “So, what now?”

David looked at the deer. “He’s basically exhausted himself now. It should be safe to deal the finisher if you think you’re ready.”

Patrick nodded and pulled his hunting knife from his belt. After a short hesitation, he walked up to the deer’s head and bent down to the eye level of the captured creature. The dying animal stared at him fearfully and once again attempted to struggle, but David’s arm wouldn’t allow it any room to move.

“Careful of those antlers. I can only hold it down so much.” David warned.

“I know.” Patrick stayed put, the indecisiveness in his expression clear to see.

The younger boy’s discomfort was clear as day. As strong as he was trying to look, he couldn’t hide it from David. Perhaps it was too soon It was one thing to shoot from a distance and another to perform what was equitable to an execution.

He tried to say something, but Patrick gave him a determined look. David chose to stay silent. Since he wanted to do this himself, there was no reason to stop him.

Patrick took a deep breath and moved forward. He pressed the knife against the deer’s throat and sliced. The deer struggled one last time before succumbing to blood loss. Its head fell motionless to the dirt.

“You okay?” David asked.

Patrick had gone pale and looked a little sick, but he nodded. “Yeah… It’s harder than I thought it’d be. I tried to think of it like the fish, but it felt so much more alive.”

“I get it. I think I threw up the first time I caught one. Killing other living creatures isn’t as easy as some people make it look.”

David felt a pang of fury in his heart as he finished speaking. He touched the black star tattooed on the right of his neck. Those raiders had made it look easy back then, as if taking a life meant nothing. He couldn’t imagine how many they had to kill to become so heartless.

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Patrick didn’t pick up on it. “When did it stop?”

David shook his head. “It will get easier, but it probably won’t ever disappear. At least you should hope it doesn’t.”

“Why not? Wouldn’t that be better?”

“To forget what it means to take a life is to lose your humanity. That’s the way I see it anyway. I don’t want to see either of us become like those… people who destroyed our home.”

David had to stop himself for a moment. He’d almost called the raiders ‘low breeds’, as Dawn called pale skinned people like them. Considering Patrick technically belonged to that group, saying such didn’t sit right with him.

Patrick’s mood became somber with that statement. He nodded and turned back toward the deer, clasping with hands in prayer.

“Thank you for your sacrifice.”

David’s eyes went wide in surprise. A crooked grin appeared on his face Unable to control himself, he covered his mouth to stifle a sudden laugh.

Patrick looked back at him cluelessly. “What’s so funny?”

“I’m sorry, it’s nothing.” David replied, still trying to stifle his laughter. “I just didn’t expect you to start praying to a deer.”

“I was paying it respect, just like you said!”

“I just meant don’t take it granted. It’s a deer, not some divine spirit. We can always start a church for it if you want, though.”

“Don’t make fun of me!” Patrick kicked David in the shin to make him stop laughing.

David caught his breath. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I know it was a serious moment. Sorry for spoiling it. Also, thanks.”

Patrick became bewildered again. “For what?”

“I got myself all depressed again. Thanks for pulling me back up.”

Patrick still appeared a little upset about the teasing, but his expression softened. “It’s nothing. I’ll start a fire, so you get the deer ready to cook. I’m starving.”

“No interest in learning how to gut? Its quite the experience.” David teased.

“Get lost!”

After setting up a fire. Patrick disappeared into a secluded corner of the camp with a portion of the stag’s antler and carving tools. This was Patrick’s main hobby ever since his ability had awakened. Four years of experience with the tools and his powers had made him quite adept with the skill.

David got to work dismantling the deer carcass. After preparing each cut, he set out the other useful portions, such as the bones and hide, for later use and began cooking dinner.

The sun began to set and night was quickly fell over the forest. Summoned by the sudden darkness, Patrick returned from his hiding spot and sat next to the fire. Most of the deer antler had been consumed. In its place were a handful of figurines Patrick was hiding beneath his coat. David chuckled. Always the modest one, that kid.

“You know you have no reason to hide those, right? I wouldn’t be able to match up no matter how hard I try.”

“It’s not that it’s bad…”

“Well stop hiding it then. I want to see it.” David pressured. He couldn’t help but get excited seeing how hesitant Patrick was to show it. It could only mean it was something interesting.

Patrick hesitated, but did slowly open his hand. David’s eyes widened when he saw what was there.

“You sure you don’t want to start a church?” David teased.

“This is why I didn’t want to show you!”

In Patrick’s hand was an incredible sculpture of a deer. The result of his work was near lifelike. It looked like an exact replica of today’s catch, down to the bends in the antlers. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say it was among the best sculptures Patrick had produced.

“Sorry. It looks amazing. Can I see it?” David asked.

Patrick nodded and handed it over. David held it up close. Patrick’s sculpting was really reaching master levels. Even the hair on the deer looked almost lifelike. Every hair was etched in skillfully. This was definitely beyond the capability of his carving knives.

“Has your ability advanced again?” David inquired.

“Only my control. At my best I can only drill small holes and even that leaves me exhausted.”

“Don’t undersell it, squirt. Even this much is incredible.” Perhaps it wasn’t a flashy ability, but David couldn’t help but be jealous at Patrick’s comprehension abilities. The kid had already reached a level of micro-control David couldn’t dream of reaching with his own power. “What about the other hand?”

Compared to the embarrassment before, Patrick seemed more nervous this time around. He opened his hand, revealing a pair of polished hammers marked with a ten-pointed star etched on the sides of the head. The ends of the hammer were concave, the depth increasing in a staggered manner like a set of stairs.

Patrick offered him one of the hammers. David was surprised by the design. Patrick’s sculptures were generally animals or trees. Simple designs like this were rare, but the skill involved was still very evident.

“What is this?” He asked.

“A hammer.” Patrick answered simply. “What do you think?”

Well, obviously. David thought. “It’s amazing. It’s just different from anything you’ve made recently.”

Patrick fidgeted nervously. “Well, I was thinking about what you said earlier and I thought of this. We don’t really have anything that shows we’re brothers, you know.”

David looked at him with a quizzical smile. “Do we really need one? I mean, who are we going to prove it too? Everyone we meet is too hostile to care about our relationship anyway.”

“I know it’s stupid, but…” Patrick stopped and took a deep breath. “Since Dawn was destroyed, we’re all each other has. But I have no connection to Dawn outside of your stories. You have memories and even a tattoo that shows where you came from. Since I can’t have those, I thought I’d make something to act as a symbol of our connection. I thought this could be our symbol, in place of what I would have gotten in Dawn.”

David stared at Patrick speechlessly. A mix of emotions flooded through him. He was touched by Patrick’s thoughtfulness, but conflicted. Patrick had such a bright view of Dawn thanks to David’s stories, but for Patrick that bright future would never have existed. He would never have received a citizenship tattoo or enjoyed the freedom David had. He would have lived the life of a servant, a life that could be very brutal if one was unlucky.

If not for his past, he would have accepted the proposal in a heartbeat. David had long felt guilty for embellishing Dawn’s reputation in his stories. Could he accept this so easily? Doing so felt like he’d be ignoring the suffering people like Patrick had gone through under Dawn. Could he accept bearing that lie just to preserve him and his brother’s relationship.

Patrick noticed the dark expression on David’s face. His own face fell. “Is it no good?”

“Tell me something. If you learned something about me or dawn in the future, and you’re told something bad, would you still make the same offer?”

“Of course.” Patrick said without hesitation.

David looked up in surprise. “Really? Even if you were told I was a mass murderer?”

“You’ve taken care of me for ten years. You saved me as a baby when I would have assuredly died. No matter what you do, you’re my family.”

Hearing that, David almost cried. He really was too lucky to have a kid like this as a younger brother. He fought off any potential tears with a loud laugh. Patrick looked at him curiously.

“Besides, I think I would know if you were a mass murderer. You think you’d be able to sneak those bodies past me? I’m more perceptive than you give me credit for, you know.”

David had to use all his willpower to stop himself from breaking out in laughter again. Somehow this scenario had become stupid. Neither was any good at preserving the mood. They really were brothers after all, weren’t they?

“You really are a smart aleck, aren’t you? Take this back. I can’t accept it like this.” David tossed the hammer back to Patrick.

The boy gave a dejected look, so David quickly clarified. “How do you expect me to carry this? There’s no string hole. You want me to keep our symbol in my pocket? No one’s going to know who we are.”

Patrick immediately brightened up. “R-right! I should have thought of that! Just a second, I’ll fix it right away!”

Patrick held his hand over the two hammers. A moment later, Patrick handed back the hammer, now with a piece of twine threaded through the ends. His arm shook slightly, revealing his level of exhaustion.

“You alright there?” David asked.

“Fine.” Patrick puffed. “It’s hard to drill holes that fast.”

David tied it around his neck and showed it off. “How’s it look?”

“Well, I made it, so even on you it looks good.”

“You little…”

David trapped Patrick in a headlock and gave him a noogie.

“Ack! Quit it! Quit it!”

* * *

About three hundred yards from their position, a man in camouflage watched through a rifle scope from the shadows. His crosshairs were centered on the Dawnite’s head as the target sat by the fire, eating his dinner in complete naivety.

The man moved his finger over the trigger. It would be so easy to end it right now. One little flex, and the hated Dawnite would be lying in a pool of his own blood. It was all he could do to keep himself from pulling the trigger.

Not yet. He thought, trying to calm himself. It’s too early.

He took his trigger hand off the rifle and grabbed his radio. “This is Krane. Over”

“We hear you. What’s the report? Over.” A calm voice said over the radio.

“The dark-skin and his servant have settled down about ten miles west of their last sighting. They look like they just finished a hunt, so I don’t think they’ll be moving anytime soon. It should be safe to begin preparations. Over.” Krane reported.

“Understood. I’ll pass your report to the leader. Continue surveillance. Is that all? Over.”

“One more thing. The younger one may be aberrant. I cannot confirm, but there was some strange behavior. Over.”

There was a slight pause before any answer was given. “So they are both enemies after all. You’ve done well, soldier. Look forward to our arrival soon. Over.”

“Yes, sir.” The man looked back through his scope at the pair of travelers, who were now playing with flaming sticks. A pair of monsters acting like children. The man sneered in hatred. “Over and out.”